Arranging your home for Comfort

Space planning is a very big part of designing your home to be comfortable and welcoming.  Here is an example that will explain it very easily.

My clients were a couple just starting out as a family.  They had a little two bedroom house and a brand new baby.  They couldn't figure out what to do with their living room but they knew that they didn't like it. When you walked into their house you walked straight into their living room.  The first thing you saw was a big couch.  They had another couch next to that and a rocking chair all in a U shape.  They weren't comfortable with it and they didn't know how to fix it.  I knew what the problem was immediately. There was no room. You literally had to shut the door to go into the room because the couch was in the way.

So I started looking for solutions and came up with a very easy answer.  We moved the rocking chair from the living room into the baby's room where it belonged.  So now they had the rocking chair where they would use it most.  In the baby’s room, I found two arm chairs and moved them into the living room.  Then we removed one sofa. This opened up the space. They actually had more seating space because the one sofa was really uncomfortable and no one wanted to sit on it. 

After these very quick adjustments, my clients told me their friends come over more often. They love coming over now because they feel so comfortable and the living room is so welcome and inviting.  

People don’t always notice what is wrong, they just adjust to the environment. It will just feel “uncomfortable”.   If they had known what was wrong, they would have said this is not comfortable.  After the changes, they didn't even realize exactly what the change was, but they felt more comfortable there.

So how do you become aware when you or your visitors are not comfortable in your living spaces?  Often, we don’t realize how much “stuff” we have in our homes because we bring it in a piece at a time and don’t realize it’s building up.  If you ever had to move you would say, “O my gosh! How did I get all of this stuff in here?” 

If you could come into your home and look at it through stranger's eyes, it might be helpful.  Of course, the easy answer is to hire an interior designer.  But, if you don't want to, you can have somebody come in that you trust to tell you the truth.  Say, “Just tell me how you feel in this room.”  Or you can ask them what feeling they get from the room.  Does it feel cozy? Does it feel inviting?  You want to know how people feel in a room.  So you don't ask them if they like that chair there. They don't know or they aren't necessarily going to tell you. Ask them how they feel in the room.  If they tell you they feel cramped or a little claustrophobic, you probably have too much stuff whether it is too many accessories or too much furniture.   People will tell you how they feel and you can use that information to make adjustments.

Need help?  If you would like to know more, please contact me.